Texans earn big road victory at Midland

Kendahl Amerson scored a game high 16 points and Anthony Walker came off the bench to chip in with 10 points, eight rebounds, and two blocked shots.  Walker also came up with highlight reel put back dunks during the contest.

South Plains (18-5, 7-3 in the WJCAC) got off to a good start, taking advantage of five Midland turnovers in the opening minutes to score the first seven points of the game.  The Chaps would close to within two just after the midway point, but the Texans answered with a 10-1 scoring run before ultimately heading to the locker room with an eight point advantage, 32-24.

Following a quick Midland bucket to start the second half, Amerson and Moreira responded with baskets of their own to again push the Texan lead to double digits.

That was the final time South Plains would own such an advantage as the Chaparrals kept within striking distance.

At the midway point of the second half and his team trailing by eight, Justin Coleman hit a 3-pointer and soon after converted a second chance opportunity in the paint to pull Midland back to within three, 45-42.

Moreira answered with a three of his own to temporarily stave off the Chaps, who immediately tried to answer, but a 3 in the corner by Brandon Lucas was off the mark.

On the Texans next trip down the court, Amerson looked inside to Moreira, who missed a shot falling away, but Walker was there to grab it and slam it home to put the Texans back up eight, 50-42.  

The Chaps again fought back and, down six, picked up a turnover by Amerson.  Corey Hilliard squared up from beyond the 3-point line and converted the shot.

Coming up on one minute remaining in the game, SPC's Devonte Smith sank two free throws to push the Texans back up five, 59-54.

Midland turned the ball over on the ensuing possession, and the Chaps then sent Roderick Lawrence to the line when they fouled him trying to steal the ball away.  Lawrence failed to convert the front end of a one-and-one and Coleman took the rebound the other way where he hit a deep two.

The Chaps then tried to apply full court pressure, which the Texans easily broke.  Midland's Colan Weasby fouled Lawrence from behind; only this time Lawrence would shoot two, as it was Midland's tenth team foul.

Lawrence missed his first, but made it a two-possession game by getting the second to fall, which may have been one of the key makes of the night as MC's Hilliard found Brandon Lucas, who dribbled once and let off a deep 3 that found the bottom of the net.  

With 27 seconds to go, South Plains still held a one-point advantage.

The Chaps were patient and waited until Ryan Martin had the ball to commit another foul.  

Only a 56-percent foul shooter entering the game, Martin had made 5-of-6 up to this point and went on to sink two clutch free throws, putting the Texans back up three, 62-59.

Midland missed their next attempt to tie the game and Devonte Smith hit two more free throws with only two seconds remaining to seal the deal and give the Texans a five-point win, 64-59.

It was an important victory for the Texans as they are now in a tie for third place in the WJCAC standings with No. 18-ranked Howard College (19-4, 7-3).  The loss puts Midland College (15-6, 6-4) in fifth place, but perhaps more importantly, the Texans own the tiebreaker since they also defeated Midland in the first round of league play.

South Plains can claim third place as their own with a victory over the Hawks on Saturday.  In addition, a Saturday win would also give South Plains a split with Howard.

A loss would potentially complicate things down the road if tiebreakers need to be used as Howard would then own the sweep over SPC; the Texans laid claim to two over Midland; while the Chaps have already swept the Hawks.

Saturday's WJCAC showdown at Howard is scheduled for a 3 p.m. tipoff.  A live video broadcast of the contest will be available at www.spctexans.com.  Fans can also tune their radio dial to KLVT 1230 AM.  KLVT Radio's Michael Wiiest will call the action on both feeds.

The Texans next home game will be Monday, Feb. 11, when they host league leading New Mexico JC (20-3, 8-1) on Covenant Hospital of Levelland's Think Pink Night.

South Plains (18-5, 7-3)
Terrence Durham 2-3 0-0 4, Yanick Moreira 6-14 1-1 14, Devonte Smith 0-3 6-6 6, Malik Nichols 1-3 0-0 2, Kendahl Amerson 6-17 2-3 16, Roderick Lawrence 1-3 1-3 3, Ryan Martin 1-5 7-8 9, Michael Karena 0-1 0-0 0, Anthony Walker 5-6 0-0 10. Totals 22-55 17-21 64

Midland (15-6, 6-4)
Colan Weasby 0-2 0-0 0, Gary Akbar 1-3 0-2 2, Willis Nicholson 1-3 0-0 2, Corey Hilliard 4-9 3-4 12, Shevon Thompson 0-0 0-0 0, Justin Coleman 6-14 0-2 13, Ede Egharevba 2-7 0-0 5, Brandon Lucas 4-9 1-2 12, Aly Ahmed 5-9 3-8 13. Totals 23-56 7-18 59
SCORE BY PERIODS    1st    2nd    TOTAL
South Plains                    32    32    64
Midland                            24    35    59

FG%: South Plains .400, Midland .411. 3-pt FG:South Plains 3-12 (Durham 0-1, Moreira 1-1, Smith 0-1, Amerson 2-8, Lawrence 0-1), Midland 6-18 (Weasby 0-2, Hilliard 1-2, Coleman 1-3, Egharevba 1-5, Lucas 3-6). Rebounds: South Plains 40 (TEAM 8, Walker 8), Midland 34 (Ahmed 8). Fouls South Plains 20, Midland 18. Fouled out: none. Technical: none. Assists: South Plains 10 (Durham 3, Smith 3, Amerson 3), Midland 4 (Ahmed 2). Steals: South Plains 3 (Martin 2), Midland 3 (Lucas 2). Blocked shots: South Plains 5 (Moreira 3), Midland 2 (Akbar 1, Ahmed 1). Turnovers: South Plains 10, Midland 11.